STRANGLES IN HORSES

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18900, 30 December 1935, Page 4

STRANGLES IN HORSES

CONTAGIOUS DISEASE GISBORNE OUTBREAK SPREAD UP THE COAST The disease known as strangles has broken out among horses in the Gisborne district, and has spread to farms up the Coast. It is the equivalent of mumps in human beings. It is not usually fatal, but is contagious, and is causing some concern among horse owners. Foals and young horses are mostly affected, and during the course of the disease they lose much of their condition.

The disease is an inflammation of the glands in the region of the throat, nearly always resulting in the formation of an abscess. It usually occurs in the spring or early summer, and a season seldom passes without a few cases being noticed in most districts, but it may occur at any time of the year. During the past week or so many cases have been reported. EARLY SYMPTOMS

The first symptom is that the horse goes “off color,” and a slight watery discharge comes from the nose. This is accompanied by frequent coughing. The discharge gradually thickens, and in some cases becomes purulent, or mattery. While the abscess is coming to a head, the horse finds difficulty in breathing, and cannot feed properly, resulting in a rapid falling away in condition. The blockage in the throat closely resembles strangulation, and this has suggested the name for the disease. After the bursting of the abscess, the animal improves rapidly in condition. Death seldom results from the disease, unless the abscess formation takes place near a vital organ. The disease is very contagious, however, and if possible horses showing signs of infection should he isolated.

This was advised by Mr P. Haugh, Government veterinary supervisor, to whom the matter was referred to-day. He also advised fomentations and linaments to be applied to the affected parts. In addition, he said, he advised the administration of an electuary comprising boracic acid and chloi'ate of potash, in equal parts, mixed with sufficient treacle to make into a thick paste. This was best given by placing the paste on the bit and fixing the bit in the horse’s mouth. This would have the effect of easing the throat and disinfecting the throat region. After the bursting of the abscess, the wound should be kept clean with any mild disinfectant. CONFUSION WITH GLANDERS By some farmers of the district, the disease is known as glanders, but Mr Ilaugh said that while both were affections of the. throat, there was a vast difference in the types of the two disorders. Glanders was a fatal disease, both to horse and to man, and was noticed by a discharge from one nostrilThe gland became hard, while in strangles the. swelling was a soft one. With glanders, the nostril became ulcerated, and there was no known cure. If a suspected horse reacted to the mallein test, the animal should be shot immediately. Glanders, Mr Haugh continued, was not common now. He knew of no case having been reported in New Zealand. The disease was met with frequently in the cab horse days in London, and during the war all horses were tested before leaving England, on arrival in France, and before being moved along the lines. So strict was the .Royal Army Veterinary Service after the war, when movements of horses from the war zone were undertaken on an enormous scale, that England had remained comparatively immune ever since. Fortunately, Mr Haugh concluded, the disease which had broken out in the Gisborne district was not glanders.